German startup behind electric ‘microliner’ lands €14M cash runway

Munich-based startup Vaeridion has secured €14mn to develop an electric aircraft that it hopes will whisk passengers on short-haul routes around Europe by 2030. 

“The microliner looks like a regular plane and it takes off from a runway — the only difference is that it will be powered by batteries,” Vaeridion’s co-founder and CEO, Ivor van Dartel, told TNW in an interview last month. “For operators and passengers, the experience will be essentially the same.”

Berlin-based climate tech VC World Fund led the Series A investment, with participation from Project A Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, Schwarz Holding, InnovationQuarter, and angel investor Andreas Kupke. 

“Our new funding will significantly accelerate development efforts, paving the way for certification-conforming prototype flights to take off in 2027, followed by a first commercial flight by 2030,” said Van Dartel.

The news comes just a month after Vaeridion became the first general aviation manufacturer to secure a pre-application contract (PAC) with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), in a big step towards commercial flight. 

Vaeridion’s head of engineering, Markus Kochs Kämper, called it “a huge milestone” in the development of its microliner. “This initiative allows us to de-risk our core technology and the path to certifying our electric aircraft prior to submitting a type certificate application,” he told TNW at the time.  

Van Dartel and Sebastian Seemann — both former Airbus and ZF engineers — co-founded Vaeridion in 2021. Their vision was to build an electric plane to replace jet-fueled aircraft on regional flights.  

Preliminary tests put the range of the microliner at about 500km, said the company. In 2022, almost a third of flights in the EU covered this distance or less, according to Eurocontrol. 

Vaeridion’s design is similar to existing regional aircraft, which could reduce development and manufacturing costs compared to more experimental electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) models that often require intricate propulsion systems and vertical lift capabilities.  

The company has already signed up its first customers: Dutch private jet operator ASL Group, German business airline Aero-Dienst, and Danish companies Copenhagen AirTaxi and Copenhagen Helicopter.  

Aero-Dienst and Vaeridion are also working together on the potential roll-out of an electric plane ambulance service for Germany’s ADAC, Europe’s largest automobile association.  

“Our partnerships and market-focused strategy reflect our commitment to not only decarbonising short-haul flights across Europe but also to setting a new standard for sustainable and energy-efficient aviation at a competitive price point,” said Van Dartel.

Vaeridion estimates that a trip in the microliner will cost between €150–300. The aircraft will initially serve business passengers before expanding into consumer travel, the company said.